Connecting

Our goal is to connect caring churches with each other and with communities in need through Christ centered leadership teams, facilitating group tours and connecting churches to communities in greatest need in the Valley.  After many years of connecting communities, churches and leaders in our Valley it became clear one of the major contributors to the problems in our Valley is the lack of unified focus and isolation of rural communities who desperately need resources.  Our belief is the beginning of any real lasting change starts with restoring hope, belief and faith.  Time and again when we connect leaders to leaders and churches to each other the hope for change comes and isolation is defeated.

• Valley Communities for Christ (VCC) has conducted half-day Valley tours where we meet with leaders in two or three rural communities.
• This process opens up eyes and hearts and relationships begin.
• Many churches and leaders, such as Christian Community Alliance, have developed long term friendships, encouraging each other, sharing resources and supporting initiatives.

This is how we connect to our Valley:
Over the past years a group of leaders has identified 41 communities to focus on in our Valley.  Pastor Jim Reyes, VCC Project Coordinator and George Ordway, Associate Director of ESA/Love INC have been the connectors in this way:

• Make initial contact with a leader or pastor in a rural community.
• Explain the VCC process and ask if that leader would fill out a community survey.
• Ask that leader to design a Vision/Mission Statement for their area of influence.
• With this relationship in place and the information compiled we begin the process of searching out a larger resource church and a business leader to connect to the rural community leader.
• All the time we are going through this process we never stop taking people on tours to these communities introducing them to each other.
• The results have been remarkable.  Long-term relationships have been developed, resources released, hope restored, thousands have received Christ, leaders have united and God is glorified.  He loves healthy communities!

On a recent tour, a Del Rey pastor told of a vision he had several years ago in which he saw help coming from churches in other cities. He believed that our visit was part of that vision’s fulfillment. 

Doug Holck, Executive Pastor of People’s Church, wrote the following in his June 1, 2008 church bulletin, “Thursday, a couple of us from the church, both staff and laity, visited Orange Cove with members of Evangelicals for Social Action.  Our purpose was to determine the needs of the community and how we as a church could help.  Keep praying as we learn of ways we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in our culture.”

Valley Communities for Christ is seeking out churches in the Fresno/Clovis area to participate in short-term or in long-term ministry projects in these communities.

Examples of just a few projects are:

• Collecting school supplies and backpacks for rural schools with child poverty rates above 90-percent.
• Doing a neighborhood impact event with a local church in a county community, such as “Family Fair” events (similar to “WOW JAM”).
• Mobilizing local men’s ministries to hold a men’s event with churches in rural communities.
• Serving a local school by offering a seven-week series of parenting classes.